Children’s television shows, whether overtly or not, tend to have at their core a desire to teach. The message is not always clear or what some parents want their children to hear, but there are certain boundaries they do not cross.
This was not the case last month when a young girl appearing on the weekly Palestinian Authority’s children’s show, The Best Home, recited a poem that was filled with hate and misinformation.
The young girl stands proudly, making proper hand gestures, as she recites such lines as:
“Allah’s enemies, the sons of pigs
Destroyed and uprooted the olive and fig trees
They murdered children with guns, like snakes
They cut off their limbs with stones and knives
They raped the women in the city squares”
At the end of the speech, the show’s host, claps her hands and says, “Bravo, applause, applause, applause to Hadeel.”
U.S. Reps. Doug Lamborn (R-Co.), Elliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and Trent Franks (R-Ar.) were outraged enough to send a letter dated April 11 to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Those three congressmen are chairs of the Israel Allies Caucus.
In their letter, they expressed “grave dismay and deep concern over the recent broadcast.” The show “included rabid incitement against the State of Israel and the Jewish people.”
Just in case their message wasn’t clear enough, the congressmen’s letter went on to state, “This mendacious message of vitriol – aimed at future generations of Palestinians – not only serves to foster hatred and violence but undermines the very essence of coexistence and peace which you have advocated.”
The three representatives concluded their letter by urging Abbas “to immediately take whatever actions are necessary to ensure that such messages of hate are never broadcast again and that they end up in the dustbins of history.” Let’s hope he does so.
To view the video, go to palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=8753
